Hailsham Tennis Club play league leaders Crowborough

The Crowborough team had won all 8 legs of their matches so far, and were a serious challenge for the newly promoted Hailsham side.

First pair Simon Underwood and Matt Dean made a strong attempt, but lost to Crowborough's Nick Taylor and Phil Messenger 2-6, 4-6.

Hailsham's second pair, Johan Jooste and Graham Mundy also lost to Crowborough's Jeff O'Brien and Andy Eggleton 5-7, 3-6.

In the reverse legs, Simon and Matt again succumbed 3-6, 4-6, this time to Jeff and Andy, and the team were in danger of going the same way as Crowborough's previous opponents 0-4.

But Johan and Graham gave Nick and Phil a good match, winning the first set on a tie-break 7-6, before the away pair came back to win the second set 6-3. So it was down to a championship tie-break (first to 10 points) to decide the leg, and the Hailsham pair inflicted the first defeat on the Crowborough men, 10-4.

The match ended 1-3, but the Hailsham team were pleased to welcome former captain Graham Mundy back into their fold, and his 17 aces promised better things to come for the team.